Alec Koondel – The New Politicalhttps://thenewpolitical.com
An Independent Voice for Athens.Fri, 13 Sep 2019 18:49:31 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.11Graduate Student Senate funds anti-sex assault coasters for Athens barshttps://thenewpolitical.com/2018/03/08/gss-sex-assault-coasters/
https://thenewpolitical.com/2018/03/08/gss-sex-assault-coasters/#respondThu, 08 Mar 2018 17:50:32 +0000http://thenewpolitical.com/?p=21863Graduate Student Senate has not said which bars will receive the coasters, but said it will direct them to bars frequented by graduate students. Coasters detailing information about preventing sexual harassment and handling assault intervention will soon appear in Athens bars in an initiative funded by Graduate Student Senate. The coasters, designed by the Ohio …

The coasters, designed by the Ohio University Better Bystanders program, feature a graphic instructing bar goers to “direct, delegate and distract” if they see anyone who appears to be at risk for possible sexual harassment or assault. They also include a hotline and address for the local Survivor Advocacy program.

Better Bystanders presented the idea of these coasters to GSS in the past few weeks, and since then GSS has been seeking the correct amount of funds to assist with the project. It is currently planning to provide $339.75 for the distribution of 1,300 coasters around bars on Court Street.

These coasters will be limited to bars that are frequently visited by graduate students. These bars were determined by a recent poll to the graduate student body about what bars they most often frequent.

They are also being assisted by the Health Promotion office, specifically the Prevention and Education program, with funding for the project.

Alec Koondel, the GSS Vice President for Finance, stated that he was interested in involving GSS with a Better Bystander program because of the unique nature of this proposal, and also because of program’s past work on campus.

“We thought they’ve been doing a great job on campus,” Koondel said. “Their presence has really been known on campus for the last year or two. I think this initiative is extremely beneficial and we thought it would be a fun and creative idea to have this idea out on Court Street.”

The proposition did not pass its first vote, due to some initial senator concerns. Some senators expressed issue with GSS providing a majority of the funding for the project, as well as with the limited focus to just graduate student focused establishments.

Koondel stated in the meeting that the current GSS budget could adequately provide majority funding for the project. The proposal for this initiative stated that “it is in the best interest of GSS to support University events that enhance the graduate student experience” as reasoning for presenting the initiative specifically to the graduate student body.

After some discussion with sponsors of the resolution regarding these concerns, the resolution passed with a majority vote.

Koondel remains optimistic about the potential results of the change, even if GSS never gets to see the exact impact the coasters may have on the graduate student community.

“If people know about it, that’s amazing, but there might be the stories we never hear about with bystander intervention that happens in an establishment,” Koondel said. “Maybe it happens and we don’t hear about it, but if it happens then that’s a success.”

GSS also discussed renewing student health insurance and the executive board’s recent visit to Kent State University to visit with graduate student senates at other universities in Ohio. All of these programs and issues will be discussed in future meetings.

]]>https://thenewpolitical.com/2018/03/08/gss-sex-assault-coasters/feed/0Graduate Student Senate passes resolution to increase health care subsidy for graduate studentshttps://thenewpolitical.com/2018/02/22/graduate-student-senate-passes-resolution-increase-healthcare-subsidy-graduate-students/
https://thenewpolitical.com/2018/02/22/graduate-student-senate-passes-resolution-increase-healthcare-subsidy-graduate-students/#respondThu, 22 Feb 2018 20:12:17 +0000http://thenewpolitical.com/?p=21817If the subsidies were raised to the average of 89 percent, as the resolution suggests, it would cost the university around $2.69 million. Ohio University Graduate Student Senate passed a resolution Tuesday to increase the university’s health care subsidy for graduate students. Currently, the university only subsidizes four percent of the cost of university health …

Currently, the university only subsidizes four percent of the cost of university health insurance for graduate students with appointments. According to the Graduate Appointment Information and Policies, appointments are the various positions that graduate students can hold, such as teaching assistant, research assistant, graduate assistant or resident assistant.

The amount of financial support for health insurance is determined by these appointments. This subsidy is lower than the subsidies of other organizations, Maria Funcheon, the primary sponsor of the resolution, said.

“This resolution is asking the university administration to recognize the four percent subsidy currently provided by the university for health insurance is lower than the average of peer institutions, which is currently 89 percent,” she said.

If the subsidies were raised to the average of 89 percent, as the resolution suggests, it would cost the university around $2.69 million. After half an hour of discussion, the resolution was passed unanimously.

GSS also passed a resolution allocating funds for the free screening — and free popcorn — of the Black Panther movie that occurred last week. This resolution was voted on during this meeting because of the gap between GSS meetings, said Alec Koondel, Vice President of Finance and the primary sponsor of the resolution.

In addition, GSS passed resolutions allocating funds to Women in Sports and the Ohio History Graduate Association Conference.

]]>The Ohio House Bill would make sexual orientation, gender identity or expression protected classes in Ohio.

Graduate Student Senate voted Tuesday night to endorse House Bill 160, which makes sexual orientation, gender identity or expression protected classes. President Nellis previously announced support for the bill.

“We were surprised there was not language like this already in Ohio’s constitution,” President Maria Modayil said. “Although our university already has language around this, this is not something that is statewide.”

House Bill 160 was introduced in March of 2017 by primary sponsor Rep. Nickie Antonio. According to Modayil, President Nellis is writing a letter of support for the bill.

“I am happy to support this resolution for, not only members of the OU community, but also for all Ohioans that might benefit from this legislation,” Rep. Maria Funcheon said.

The resolution passed unanimously.

GSS also passed a resolution to recognize the second week of April as Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, acknowledging President Nellis’ recognition of graduate student life as a “strategic priority for the university.”

“This is something that has been done in a lot of institutions recently just to recognize graduate students and their work, teaching and research efforts,” Modayil said.

GSS hopes to collaborate with other campus organizations to recognize graduate student efforts at the 2018 Student Expo, which also falls on the second week of April.

The body also unanimously passed a resolution to approve an election application. This application allows graduate students to apply for a position within GSS.

“This application, if not the same as last year, worked really well,” Alec Koondel, Vice President for Finance, said.

The application is open until March 23.

In other business:

GSS passed a resolution to budget $500 for the Appalachia Rising Service Immersion Trip, an alternative spring break option

The body resolved to budget $724.44 for the Women In Grad School Conference.